This hub discusses the amazing business strategy and innovative techniques of Steve Jobs and Apple Inc. including the iPod (iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle), iPhone, iTunes, and MacBooks (including the MacBook Air).

Steven Jobs is the best known for his work as Chairman and CEO of Apple Inc. His work is a demonstration of both innovation and creativity. He is responsible for the creation and release of the iPod, iPhone, and MacBook Air. In the same creative fashion, Steve Jobs comes up with creative ways to release his new products. He has become famous for his simplistic approach to everything Apple, Macintosh, iPhone, iPod, and the like. As his employees and investors awaited an awe striking “fire-works” type of presentation, Steve Jobs walks out to a stool that has nothing on it but an envelope. The Apple, Inc. employees were undoubtedly waiting for an incredible light show, music, a circus type affair. Instead, Steve Jobs silently opens a manila envelope sitting on the stool in the middle of the stage; inside he has hidden the new MacBook. Unbelievable, with no fancy lights or music he has impressed an auditorium full of anxious stakeholders. The Apple Inc. theme (for both the Macintosh line and the iPod, iPhone collection) seems to be sleek, cool, and slim.

Most people do not know this, but Apple Inc. put up overwhelming resistance when Jobs proposed the iPod idea. Can you imagine walking down the street now without seeing someone with an iPod Shuffle, iPod Touch, iPod Nano, or iPhone in hand? How would we answer the world's questions in the car without the worlds greatest invention, the iPhone? The largest area of controversy was the price point of the portable music player. There was no way to sell an item with the of breakthrough iPod technology for the low prices customers were used to getting CD players and walkmans. Many thought it would be impossible to market and sell, and expected consumers to prefer the inexpensive CD players and pocket radios to the massive storage and high price tag the iPod offers. Instead, the iPod is now the accepted form of music transportation. One would find it an incredible challenge to find a gym or park without an iPod (or no name MP3 player substitute) setting the beat and pace for a workout.

Once Steve Jobs convinced Apple's board that the iPod was an idea worth pursuing, the release of the original iPod was well accepted among existing Macintosh/Apple fans. Still, the iPod needed revisions before it would be able to break into almost every market. With the release of new iPod varieties, like the iPod nano, iPod shuffle, iPod touch, and the thousands of available accessories, Apple's iPod has invaded almost every market. Customers who don't need 20gigs of storage and the ability to rapidly navigate through thousands of songs may be happier with the randomizing ability and lower price tag of the iPod shuffle. “With the introduction of the iPod portable music player, iTunes digital music software, and the iTunes Store, the company made forays into consumer electronics and music distribution.” (Quittner, 2009).

Though best known now for his breakthrough innovative ideas at Apple, Inc., Steve Jobs was also the CEO of Pixar Animation Studios. He sold his company to Disney in 2006, which gave him more time to devote to creative ideas and marketing strategies for products like the Macbook Air and iPod collection. Still, his creativity is not only limited to the technological "geek products" (I include myself in the geek category, and proudly own an iPod, iBook, and iPhone). Many movies were created under Steve Job's direction, including Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, and Cars. (Still, none of these creative dramas adds the same value as the iPod in my book). Creative plots, and unique graphic design techniques help the Pixar movies to draw billions in box office dollars while entertaining children and adults alike. The high definition cartoons and lifelike characterization of inanimate objects may draw from old children’s stories like The Little Engine That Could. Still, few would argue the plots are less than genius. Just like his work at Apple on products like the iPod, iPhone, and Macbook, Steve uses breakthrough technology in the design of these movies to convince audiences for hours at a time they are watching impossible things occur. “On January 24, 2006, Jobs and Iger announced that Disney had agreed to purchase Pixar in an all-stock transaction worth $7.4 billion. Once the deal closed, Jobs became The Walt Disney Company's largest single shareholder with approximately 7% of the company's stock” (Quittner, 2009).

References
Quittner, Josh (2009). Apple stock surges on upbeat earnings report. Retrieved January
29, 2009, from Time Web site: http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1873168,00.html